I have several questions as far as setup goes, with SHOU being very active here hope I can get some insight helpful to me and maybe others with plans to run this in the USA. I have preordered a system with kung fu and am trying to plan out what I want to do as far as building/converting/buying for a cabinet setup and having it be as useful for future games as possible.

Does the EXA provide outputs at all? JVS allows for this in the way of controlled lit start buttons or cabinet lighting that would change color when you take a hit or whatever, does EXA take advantage of this? If not why not? Big opportunity for some extra WOW factor. I ask because my setup will have RGB lighting on it controlled by the JVS or not. Crap like this is practically a requirement in a US arcade.

Also controls. Kung fu will probably be 6 button SF type layout? But I also have interest in Lightning Knights that looks like it could honestly lend itself well to twin stick (robotron) controls.
Are controls mappable from game to game? So for instance if you had a 4 player setup for lighting knights but wanted it to also work for kung fu could you do players 1-4 across the panel for knights but have it setup with the center 2 sticks with a 6 button fighting layout (player 2&3) and have kung fu set to use the center sticks as player 1&2?

Art assets. With needing to make a large marquee and possibly cabinet art, will there be flashy EXA art available for printing? What about each game? Will each game have a uniform title/instruction card (like MVS) to display? So I know what space to make for it.

Does the EXA provide outputs at all? JVS allows for this in the way of controlled lit start buttons or cabinet lighting that would change color when you take a hit or whatever, does EXA take advantage of this? If not why not? Big opportunity for some extra WOW factor. I ask because my setup will have RGB lighting on it controlled by the JVS or not. Crap like this is practically a requirement in a US arcade.

I'd hazard a guess and say no. This is the sort of feature you will only find on a dedicated cabinet. I don't believe there are any plans for that currently. It's a large outlay for something that would appeal to a few of the smaller markets.

Your best bet for compatibility is to find a Taito Vewlix, SEGA Lindbergh, Namco Noir or a cheaper Chinese clone.

Having light output would not be hard to implement as JVS already supports it. It would add a great deal to the attractiveness of the games. Just saying it should be considered (if not already) as it could add alot. Imagine being able to flash lighting red when you nuke in a shooter, or change color in tune with a life bar. Opens alot of doors is all I am pointing out.

Any of the vewlix or other "candy" style cabs are far too small to get noticed and get any play in a standard US arcade.

Having to swap wires around would defeat the point of this being a multigame setup though. Wouldnt want to have to swap around wires between 2 different installed carts.

Does the EXA provide outputs at all? JVS allows for this in the way of controlled lit start buttons or cabinet lighting that would change color when you take a hit or whatever, does EXA take advantage of this? If not why not? Big opportunity for some extra WOW factor. I ask because my setup will have RGB lighting on it controlled by the JVS or not. Crap like this is practically a requirement in a US arcade.

I'd hazard a guess and say no. This is the sort of feature you will only find on a dedicated cabinet. I don't believe there are any plans for that currently. It's a large outlay for something that would appeal to a few of the smaller markets.

Your best bet for compatibility is to find a Taito Vewlix, SEGA Lindbergh, Namco Noir or a cheaper Chinese clone.

As far as we know so far, EXA Arcadia launch games will begin as standard fare arcade games with single joystick and 3 buttons at minimum for basic input support.

The lighting aspect is something quite excessive since it is meant to be placed in any cabinet that supports JVS.

When EXA Arcadia begins to profit from more units and games, then they have more freedom to experiment.

I hope this doesn't come off as rude- but do you have experience with arcade cabinets by chance? You seem to have a really big interest in the Exa stuff.

While I have not yet actually built arcade cabinets, I do understand the basics of arcade cabinet design thanks to Internet research and speaking with various operators at the arcades near my home. Like many of you guys, I do believe strongly in Exa Arcadia being a good fit for many types of arcades. I even made friends with a few fellow arcade operators from the discord server.

As for replying to this fellow neoinvader's post about making a twin stick out of existing joystick and buttons, The minimum number of buttons required to turn into additional joystick is 4 buttons. Since the maximum number of buttons per player is confirmed to be six, it is possible to have multiplayer set up with twin sticks with two extra buttons left over. Keep in mind that using four buttons to make an additional joystick acts as a substitute. Furthermore, having to plug wires into buttons is a fundamental aspect of arcade cabinet design and implementation. I also stumbled across a thread from a different forum showcasing replaceable control panels. Swappable control panels is the closest thing to having different control configurations without making the cabinet look messy.

If I had the money and experience in running in arcade, I would gladly support EXA Arcadia in anyway possible by buying a unit. If I were a certified developer for the platform, I would feel motivated to create games that are well suited for the arcade market. I cannot do either of those yet but I aim to achieve one or both of these goals for the future.

Let us remember that EXA Arcadia has made much progress and we should be thankful for having a global launch period starting in Fall 2019 and beyond.

I have several questions as far as setup goes, with SHOU being very active here hope I can get some insight helpful to me and maybe others with plans to run this in the USA. I have preordered a system with kung fu and am trying to plan out what I want to do as far as building/converting/buying for a cabinet setup and having it be as useful for future games as possible.

Does the EXA provide outputs at all? JVS allows for this in the way of controlled lit start buttons or cabinet lighting that would change color when you take a hit or whatever, does EXA take advantage of this? If not why not? Big opportunity for some extra WOW factor. I ask because my setup will have RGB lighting on it controlled by the JVS or not. Crap like this is practically a requirement in a US arcade.

Also controls. Kung fu will probably be 6 button SF type layout? But I also have interest in Lightning Knights that looks like it could honestly lend itself well to twin stick (robotron) controls.
Are controls mappable from game to game? So for instance if you had a 4 player setup for lighting knights but wanted it to also work for kung fu could you do players 1-4 across the panel for knights but have it setup with the center 2 sticks with a 6 button fighting layout (player 2&3) and have kung fu set to use the center sticks as player 1&2?

Art assets. With needing to make a large marquee and possibly cabinet art, will there be flashy EXA art available for printing? What about each game? Will each game have a uniform title/instruction card (like MVS) to display? So I know what space to make for it.

Thank you, looking forward to giving this system a shot.

Regarding the use of programmable LEDs etc, this is planned as a feature in the future to use a Jeff Minter visualizer. Standard Japanese JVS cabinets do not have anything to support this so at launch, it is not supported yet.

Kung Fu is a 4 button layout:
Punch Kick Weapon
Evade

The reason why we do not do twin stick games is that kind of control panel is not standard and would greatly limit the amount of arcades who would buy it without a dedicated cabinet.
In the future, for the US market, an upright dedicated cabinet will likely be available but I am sure that people here would prefer the Japanese style design.
Certain games do support button config within each game's respective test menu.

Each game comes with at a minimum: A3 header and an instruction strip. We will in addition produce an MVS like header with mini marquees for interested parties.

I have several questions as far as setup goes, with SHOU being very active here hope I can get some insight helpful to me and maybe others with plans to run this in the USA. I have preordered a system with kung fu and am trying to plan out what I want to do as far as building/converting/buying for a cabinet setup and having it be as useful for future games as possible.

Does the EXA provide outputs at all? JVS allows for this in the way of controlled lit start buttons or cabinet lighting that would change color when you take a hit or whatever, does EXA take advantage of this? If not why not? Big opportunity for some extra WOW factor. I ask because my setup will have RGB lighting on it controlled by the JVS or not. Crap like this is practically a requirement in a US arcade.

Also controls. Kung fu will probably be 6 button SF type layout? But I also have interest in Lightning Knights that looks like it could honestly lend itself well to twin stick (robotron) controls.
Are controls mappable from game to game? So for instance if you had a 4 player setup for lighting knights but wanted it to also work for kung fu could you do players 1-4 across the panel for knights but have it setup with the center 2 sticks with a 6 button fighting layout (player 2&3) and have kung fu set to use the center sticks as player 1&2?

Art assets. With needing to make a large marquee and possibly cabinet art, will there be flashy EXA art available for printing? What about each game? Will each game have a uniform title/instruction card (like MVS) to display? So I know what space to make for it.

Thank you, looking forward to giving this system a shot.

Regarding the use of programmable LEDs etc, this is planned as a feature in the future to use a Jeff Minter visualizer. Standard Japanese JVS cabinets do not have anything to support this so at launch, it is not supported yet.

Kung Fu is a 4 button layout:
Punch Kick Weapon
Evade

The reason why we do not do twin stick games is that kind of control panel is not standard and would greatly limit the amount of arcades who would buy it without a dedicated cabinet.
In the future, for the US market, an upright dedicated cabinet will likely be available but I am sure that people here would prefer the Japanese style design.
Certain games do support button config within each game's respective test menu.

Each game comes with at a minimum: A3 header and an instruction strip. We will in addition produce an MVS like header with mini marquees for interested parties.

Thanks for your questions and support.

Thank you for the reply.
I didnt intend to make it sound like I thought lightning knights should be twin stick, just that the gameplay looks like it could be that style.
My main question with that was if you have a 4player panel setup (like for lightning knights) if you also had a 2 player only game (kung fu) in that same setup would you be forced to use the left 2 sticks? Or can the software be setup to use the center 2 sticks for the 2 player game?

Thank you for the reply.
I didnt intend to make it sound like I thought lightning knights should be twin stick, just that the gameplay looks like it could be that style.
My main question with that was if you have a 4player panel setup (like for lightning knights) if you also had a 2 player only game (kung fu) in that same setup would you be forced to use the left 2 sticks? Or can the software be setup to use the center 2 sticks for the 2 player game?

exA-Arcadia implemented 4 player play by daisy chaining JVS IO boards where 2 players are on each respective board.
This is similar to Virtua Tennis and Beach Spikers.

I am assuming that in a 4 Player setup your panel would be:
1P, 2P, 3P, 4P

In this case, 1P and 2P would always be the left most.
You could technically set Kung Fu to a Japanese style back to back VS setup where then it would be 1P and 3P but this would be confusing.

Alternatively, you could wire up the controls to make the center 1P and 2P while the far left and right are 3P and 4P respectively with your wiring.

Thank you for the reply.
I didnt intend to make it sound like I thought lightning knights should be twin stick, just that the gameplay looks like it could be that style.
My main question with that was if you have a 4player panel setup (like for lightning knights) if you also had a 2 player only game (kung fu) in that same setup would you be forced to use the left 2 sticks? Or can the software be setup to use the center 2 sticks for the 2 player game?

exA-Arcadia implemented 4 player play by daisy chaining JVS IO boards where 2 players are on each respective board.
This is similar to Virtua Tennis and Beach Spikers.

I am assuming that in a 4 Player setup your panel would be:
1P, 2P, 3P, 4P

In this case, 1P and 2P would always be the left most.
You could technically set Kung Fu to a Japanese style back to back VS setup where then it would be 1P and 3P but this would be confusing.

Alternatively, you could wire up the controls to make the center 1P and 2P while the far left and right are 3P and 4P respectively with your wiring.

3P, 1P, 2P, 4P may be the way to go. Will see when the time comes if something like that would end up too confusing, but if labeled well may be ok.

Very interested to hear more about Jeff Minter visualizer? Is this something that would involve Jeff? Or just something similar to what he has done?
My thoughts with asking about the lighting thing is that most JVS io boards already support outputs so utilizing that would be extremely minimal effort. Even on standard Japanese cabinets the existing IO probably already supports output so just doing even at minimum lit controlled buttons would be simple to put in the cab and would make the EXA that much cooler.

Does exA-Arcadia plan on attending JAPPO 2020 or making another showcase video to update the progress of forthcoming titles, I found that quite informative.

You have given good reasons why targeting current generation and the popular developers needs to be the main focus.

However interestingly you mentioned that for challenging markets you might in future consider a lower specification system. I know Sega did this with the basic 'RingWide' vs 'RingEdge' models and targeted game releases accordingly.

I wonder what would Japanese gamers make of Jeff Minter/Llamasoft's GoatUp (from minotaur arcade vol. 1), that could be neat running on vertical/tate setup.

Last edited by jimmerd on November 11th, 2019, 8:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

3P, 1P, 2P, 4P may be the way to go. Will see when the time comes if something like that would end up too confusing, but if labeled well may be ok.

Very interested to hear more about Jeff Minter visualizer? Is this something that would involve Jeff? Or just something similar to what he has done?
My thoughts with asking about the lighting thing is that most JVS io boards already support outputs so utilizing that would be extremely minimal effort. Even on standard Japanese cabinets the existing IO probably already supports output so just doing even at minimum lit controlled buttons would be simple to put in the cab and would make the EXA that much cooler.

JVS does not support dynamic lighting like you are thinking and what we have planned. We plan to involve Jeff per his schedule.